Dead In the Water
by SeagullsKitty
Summary: John wants to explore more than anything. The problem is is that he can't do it alone. His kind aren't safe in the deep of the ocean or, if it were possible, on land, so he must stay there on the little coast with his sister and friends. But for how long? Surely not as long as he thinks. However, that might not be a good thing after all.


Sometimes we find love where and when we least expect it. I guess that's what makes it so very easy to drown in confusion and feeling. Those who seclude themselves from love are very lucky indeed... but at the same time they aren't. They will never know the passion that is to come with such a deep longing.

The story I will tell is of a young merman by the name of John. He can't speak for himself, you see. Because of this I will tell of his wish to be with a strapping blondie who can't keep his suavity to himself. Then again, pirates will be expected to be rude in one way or another. John got lucky by choosing the rudeness of clever sarcasm.

Now this didn't all happen just yesterday, mind you, but rather in 1078 by a village on the coast of the British Isles.

_The time and place just mentioned._

"John! There you are, mate!"

There came the voice of the only living soul who even slightly understood John's want to explore. To leave the place he'd spent his whole life, taunted by passerby he could never meet, haunted by the emptiness of the water when no fish swam by. They probably avoided him. The cheer of the voice was followed by the small splash of Jake's head meeting tides to swim to his friend's rock - probably to scold him. There went the second splash of the tanned face meeting sunlight yet again. The dark of his skin and hair, which partially stuck to the side of his face, contrasted deeply with the bright green of his eyes. His body shades contrasted even more so with John's soft pale skin and vibrant blue eyes.

"Hey Jake," was all John said(quite unlike his usually giddy attitude). He'd been sitting upon one rock and leaning against a larger one behind him. Jake pulled himself up, with a little help(tails are _heavy_ when out of water) beside John. Jake, like John, had scales that started at the waist and led down to two translucent fins. Jake shared the green tones of his tail with John's older sister, Jade, while Jane(though closer to periwinkle) shared beautiful blue hues with John.

"What's eating you?"

"Usual."

"Listen, I know you want to explore, but Misses Jade and Jane wouldn't allow it, and we can't swim that far out. There's fisherman and whalers, the distance without any grub, not to mention our cousins…" At this they both shivered. Just because they were related, doesn't mean sirens would ignore that they were males. John was first to recover. "I know, I know. A guy can wish can't he?"

"Of course you can wish. But wish at home. Jane's getting sick of you wandering off where a human could see you, and I'm getting the bad of it all." The last bit was more a grumble than anything.

"Just a little longer…" John stated dreamily while staring out towards the ocean.

"Alright, but it's on your head." A large splash revealed his departure. 'Just a little longer' turned out to be an hour of daydreaming then barely escaping being noticed by whoever hadn't minded to walk along the beach quietly. Could sand _be _that loud? John guessed he was in no place to judge. People avoided the beach usually. They associated the merfolk with their kin: sirens, sea monsters, pretty much anything in a sailor's story about how he lost a limb.

"Yo, shrimp!"

John froze. That boy couldn't have been speaking to him. He was safe behind this big old rock that kept him from sight.

"If there's really shrimp in this part of the ocean, I'm sorry to say I'm speaking to the kid cowering behind the rock."

"Kid?" John exclaimed, covering his mouth right after.

"And he speaks! Now, you sound about my age. Come out so I know if I should waste my time flirting or if that would be a mistake." John could hear the smirk in his voice.

"No, thank you," he replied without hiding his annoyance. Although John was fascinated by humans, this one was coming off as a jerk.

"Awe, come on…" Silence. "Okay, I guess I'll just come to you th-"

"No wait!" In one swift move, John had turned and pulled himself up just enough so the two boys could look at eachother. Both were silent. John knew why he, himself, wasn't speaking. He'd never seen a human so closely before. This was a momentous occasion on his part. He took in the boy's everything: his tousled golden hair, only just short enough to not bother pulling back; the scatter of freckles seemed to play at every corner of his body; his clothes… so different from the British styles - these were loose trousers, leather, non-heeled boots, and a loose shirt with a red vest; and his eyes… they were weird in a good way… their red glow stared into John with deep interest… But why was this boy looking at John this way?

"Hello?" John waved his hand around, causing the boy to regain consciousness.

"Oh, yeah, hi." Was he blushing? No… Probably not. "I'm Dave by the way."

"Nice to meet you, David."

"Just Dave please."

"Okay 'Dave Please.'"

"Wow, okay, I thought you were cute, but you're starting to come off as a bit of a prick."

"I try."

Dave smirked. "So am I going to be spending my time with a nameless damsel?"

"My name is John, and I'm not a damsel. I'm perfectly safe unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?"

"It's a frivolous idea I have…"

"You want to explore." It wasn't a question. It was obvious to both of them, and they both knew it was true. John unnecessarily nodded.

"Why don't you?"

"I can't…"

"Of course you can. We could probably go now if you like. My brother might just be waiting for me to get my ass in gear so we can leave."

"You're… leaving?" That elation he'd felt from finally having a friend? Gone.

"Not yet, but you could probably come with us. Dirk - my brother - even said I need a friend."

"But… I can't go…"

Dave's smile faded. "Why not?"

"I just can't… I can't explain it either…" Oh how he wanted to though.

"Alright." Dave stood. He looked and sounded disappointed and angry.

"Dave wait!" John grabbed his hand before he could walk out of the little merman's life forever. He could tell by the blonde's expression that he hadn't noticed the blur of John's tail in the water. Rather than that, he saw confusion. Confusion that increased as he spoke. "I do want to be your friend. I'd love to talk to someone who can tell me more than I already know for a change…"

"Then why won't you come?"

"I have my reasons… My family-"

"Oh. Say no more. I got it." Goodbye confusion.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Family is the same reason I'm not staying. My bro's all I have. Well, and the adventures are pretty swell."

"Dave…"

"Yeah?"

"What do you mean by 'your bro is all you have'?"

"I'll tell ya when I trust ya."

"Fair enough."

"So," said Dave as he sat down across from John(the rock was still concealing John's chest and down), "Anything interesting happen around here?"

"Not at all!" After an exchange of amused silences, Dave turned and leaned against his rock with his hands behind his head in a way that nowadays would be referenced to as "cool" or "chill". John pulled himself up a little more to lean over the rock and still have a view of his friend.

"Liar." John was taken aback by this as he'd only ever told playful lies in order to accomplish friendly pranks. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean that while I was in town I heard there are mermaids that live near here."

John sunk down a little in an effort to hide as surreptitiously as he could.

"Is that why you came here?"

"Where? To the coast? That's correct. I had nothing to do besides explore and watch my brother gamble men's lives away, so I listened to this crazy old man and thought I'd take the chance of them not being here - or being here and being as horrible as he descri-"

"Merpeople are not as horrible as the villagers believe! They're unbelievably uneducated for being able to read!"

"Many people don't know how to read. You do know this, John."

"Of course I do. And it's terrible that they were never taught. If they had been, they'd recognize a mermaid from a siren and that there is no male species of the sirens."

"And there are male mermaids…?" John could tell by his tone that he knew the answer and just wanted to be a prick.

"Mermen."

"Have you seen any merfolk?"

"Of course I-" The question had thrown John off guard. Before he could save himself, Dave countered with another question.

"Where are they? I want to meet one. If you're right about them being friendly, I could give a first-hand account."

"It won't work," answered John immediately as he sat with his back against the boulder and sighed.

"How are you sure?"

"It's been tried before…"

"Well-"

"It won't _work_, Dave."

"I'll still try."

"Why?"

"Look up." John, who'd been staring down at the refracted image his tail's blue against the water's blue, hadn't noticed Dave looking over the side of the boulder at the same image, and the understanding between them caused him to jump in the water, to run(or in this case, swim) away.


End file.
